Concrete Home Building Council Triples Builders’ Course Offerings

As 2005 drew to a close and 2006 was just beginning, the recently formed Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC) had a lot to brag about with its participation

As 2005 drew to a close and 2006 was just beginning, the recently formed Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC) had a lot to brag about with its participation in The New American Home last month (see article on page 76) and its cosponsoring of two World of Concrete’s Mega Demo events (see page 10).

Through a partnership with Home Builders Institute (HBI) and the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), CHBC spent much of 2005 organizing a series of educational resources focused entirely on residential concrete construction in response to the growing demand for quality construction education highlighting concrete technologies.

Working with Brookline, Mass.-based curriculum designer Building Works Inc. and HBI’s Residential Construction Academy, the council has developed four Concrete Specialization Courses, scheduled to debut in February and aimed at budding field superintendents managing residential construction sites using concrete materials. These four-hour courses cover the following:

  • Concrete Mix Designs, Construction Guidelines and Troubleshooting, pilot program launched in Atlanta. Attendees will be instructed on how and when to use concrete for a paving or floor project; intelligently sourcing their concrete flatwork; specifying the work accurately and efficiently; properly evaluating the work done; and, performing troubleshooting and repair effectively.
  • Handling Moisture Behind Brick Veneers to Back-up Walls, Winston-Salem, N.C. This course is designed to provide information on the essentials of brick veneer construction, selecting and working with a masonry crew, insuring the building is properly prepared to receive brick, coordinating the affected crews, and making corrections or repairs when necessary. The participant will be taught how to produce a quality brick veneer at a controlled cost, with an efficient use of time.
  • Best Practices for Concrete Pavers and Segmental Retaining Walls, Kalamazoo, Mich. Designed to give homebuilders and/or superintendents thorough knowledge of new homescaping products, this program will provide attendees an understanding of the steps necessary for installation of segmental retaining walls, pavers and related products, and how to incorporate these products into their homebuilding businesses.
  • Concrete Masonry Homebuilding This course is designed to give construction supervisors the information key to building and overseeing masonry work, including overviews on how to adapt home plans, find and supervise competent masonry crews, guide the work for efficient and high-quality results, and coordinate other crews that interface with the masonry.

The programs will be then made available nationwide through state and local home builders associations as well as company training programs.

The two original HBI/CHBC courses Û Cast-in-Place Concrete Construction, and the 8-hour Building with Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) Û will also continue to be offered.

The courses were modeled after HBI’s Residential Construction Superintendent designation, and students who successfully complete them will receive a certificate recognizing their knowledge of cement-based building systems and products.

In addition to implementing the concrete superintendent courses, RCA is working with CHBC on adding a Masonry and Concrete text to its library of residential educational materials Û a publishing venture with Thomson Delmar Learning that brings these resources to secondary and post-secondary educational institutions and workforce training programs. Information on the new courses can be obtained from Joseph Krinock at HBI, 800/795-7955, ext. 8928, or CHBC’s Dawn Faull, 800/368-5242, ext. 8362. For a schedule of all courses, visit: www.hbi.org/rcscourses/concrete

In addition to the regional courses, NAHB and CHBC are sponsoring the Building with Concrete: The Basics and Beyond 2006 Concrete Technologies Tour, June 11-13 at the Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix. This educational event will provide an understanding of the concrete construction market through hands-on experiences. The tour will offer a broad view of the regional differences in production and building trends of concrete, a working knowledge of all types of cement-based materials, and guidelines on implementing the most up-to-date industry trends into their businesses. For more information or to register for the event, go to: www.nahb.org/concretetour.